GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-401 vulnerability in detect-character-encoding. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in detect-character-encoding
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 0 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
detect-character-encodingnpmDescription
Impact
In detect-character-encoding v0.3.0 and earlier, allocated memory is not released.
Patches
The problem has been patched in detect-character-encoding v0.3.1.
CVSS score
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/RL:O/RC:C
Base Score: 7.5 (High) Temporal Score: 7.2 (High)
Since detect-character-encoding is a library, the scoring is based on the “reasonable worst-case implementation scenario”, namely, using detect-character-encoding in a program accessible over the internet which becomes unavailable when running out of memory. Depending on your specific implementation, the vulnerability’s severity in your program may be different.
Proof of concept
const express = require("express");
const detectCharacterEncoding = require("detect-character-encoding");
const app = express();
app.get("/", (req, res) => {
detectCharacterEncoding(Buffer.from("foo"));
res.end();
});
app.listen(3000);
hey -n 1000000 http://localhost:3000 (hey) causes the Node.js process to consume more and more memory.
References
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | detect-character-encoding | all versions | 0.3.1 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for detect-character-encoding. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update detect-character-encoding to 0.3.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.